Making a difference, one child at a time

I have a new girl in my life. Her name is Francoise. She has the biggest brown eyes and a smile that takes up half her face. I had walked by the GO! (Global Outreach) Ministry cart in the church lobby several times seeing that face on a brochure, thinking “what a cutie!” But I was usually in a hurry to do something somewhere, so I didn’t stop.

Then last week, the words that were written above the beautiful face almost yelled at me – “get involved – sponsor a child today.” And I did. I have already received a first letter from beautiful little Francoise, from Takwe, Rwanda, the community with whom my church St. Anthony on the Desert recently partnered. She told me about her family, how fortunate she is to have a mother and a father, two brothers and a sister. She’s in the 5th grade and loves mathematics and studying their national language. I thought she sounded just like any average little girl; then I read on. She also lives in a mud block house with a dirt floor, suffers from malnutrition; and her community has no sewer system, electricity or running water. Their only water source is dirty and an hour’s walk away. OK, maybe Francoise is not like the children that I know…

I have to admit that the first letter I wrote to Francoise was a difficult one indeed. How do I tell her about my life, my blessed life, with family and friends who fill my days with joy, the opportunities that I have? She wants pictures of me and my family and my house so that she can know me better. Part of me doesn’t want to do this. Part of me is so utterly embarrassed and ashamed to have this little smiling girl halfway around the world wanting to know all about me so we can share our lives together. I have so much, too much. Certainly nothing deserved, just blessed.

As I sit and look at the beautiful beaming face of little Francoise, I read the banner under her picture. “Make a difference…one child at a time.” So this is the beginning, the beginning of my life shared with Francoise. Can I end poverty? Not by myself. Can I make a difference in the life of Francoise Iradukunda? Absolutely. What a blessing.

"We do not see things as they are but as we are."

I heard this on the radio recently as I was driving to work. The thought has stuck with me because it provided an easy answer to so many of the mysteries in my life.

I know that people and circumstances that really haven’t changed seem different to me when my attitude about them changes. Some days everything is absolutely great; other days, a little less so. It seems reasonable to assume that if I decide to have a good attitude, then things will be just perfect or at least manageable.

As much as I like to be in control, (a shocking thought, I know) there was something wrong with this thought. It isn’t about me, and it’s so easy to fall into that trap. The feeling that when I feel good, all is well. When I’m a little out of sorts, the world veers off course. Where is God in all of this?It seems funny to me that when I have contorted thoughts such as these, that God lets me go down rabbit holes for just so long, and then he sends me a lifeline. These lifelines appear in so many different ways…as one did last night.

I read a passage out of one of my favorite author’s books, When the Game is Over It All Goes Back into the Box, by John Ortberg. In it he said, “Salt's calling is to lose itself in something much bigger and more glorious; and then it fulfills its destiny. We were made to count. We were made to be salt. But the quest for significance is a delicate dance. If I do it by myself for myself, it's death. If I do it with God for others, it's life.”

I would only change one thing. That would be if I do it with God and with you, its life. Join with me now not to find the easy answers, not to set ourselves up as kings and queens of the universe, but, as John Ortberg suggests, to fulfill our destiny, that destiny that God has planned for you and for me, in our community of faith, our neighborhoods, our country and our world. It’s a big job, but with God we can do it. Ready to start?